SEASON 4 IS ON THE WAY!

"...these loaves that I will share with you, were baked with love, and what I know so far. I'm a firm believer that we are what we eat, and I pray the bread I share here with you, will nourish and encourage you".

Friday, April 24, 2009

It's A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood

This of course is the name of Mr. Roger’s theme song? Even though I don’t remember being a fan of that show, as I prepare to share with you what I know so far it is the phrase that comes to mind. And truth be told it could have something to do with the fact that I sat a little longer than usual this morning in my window seat looking out at my neighborhood...
While doing so, I could not help but think that before long it will be warmer, and soon we would be safe from lingering forecast of unseasonable snow storms, and finally the warm weather which I love so much, would be here. But then it occurred to me that there are many days between then and the now which gave me an opportunity to check myself and come back to the now.

This gave me an opportunity to see my neighborhood in a way that I had not at first glance. Everything seemed pending. Just waiting it’s turn, just waiting it’s cues to break ground and come forth. The flowers which will offer patches of color in all the right places. The wisdom of the trees knowing just the right time to allow their buds to bare witness to spring. Oh, thank God I took a second look otherwise I’d have missed the beauty of my neighborhood.
So let me ask you this; Is it a beautiful day in your neighborhood? Chances are if you are living in the middle region of the United States, your experiencing the same kind of day that I am, at least weather wise. But if you’ve been partaking of these loaves of bread, what I like to call “What I Know So Far,” by now you probably know that I’m not simply talking about the weather.

So I’ll ask you again, IS it a beautiful day in your neighborhood? Look around. What do you see? For I’m talking about the neighborhood in your mind, the place where you live, the place which determines your attitude, that one block radius between your ears. Now, the good thing about that neighborhood is you have the ability to control most things, or everything depending upon how you see it. The way I see it, we need to be good gate keepers of our minds, of our neighborhoods. I realized how easily our neighborhoods could change, loosing it’s property value, and become contaminated.

These changes happen by our own thoughts or by listening to, and believing the reports of others. It is therefore important to avoid polluting as well as pollutants. Polluting would be those negative, those less than lovely thoughts that we sometimes have and speak to ourselves as well as to our poor unsuspecting neighbors. Pollutants are sort of like mental graffiti, or the stinking thinking that shrouds the beauty of our minds, of our neighborhoods.

If while seating in my window-seat this morning, I had allowed those thoughts to run ahead of me... then the belief in lack, the fears of recession or depression, would have made me miss the beauty of becoming, the miracle of change, the marvel of spring, the very fact that it is indeed a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Now, that being shared, what would it take to make it your neighborhood beautiful? Well, for me it takes being a good neighbor as well as a good gatekeeper of my mind [as well as my mouth] to block the stinking thinking of others. It’s takes constant weeding, uprooting old beliefs, and a commitment to do no harm and cause no pain. It also takes a choice to look up, to see the bright side of things, and not in some distant future, but to see it right now. So instead of focusing on what’s not happening I’ve decided to organize a neighborhood watch to ensure that the undesirables do not move in and decrease my property value. To guaranty that everyday is a beautiful day in my neighborhood.

So again, my question to you is; What would make it a beautiful day in your neighborhood? Envision it, make it so.

For this is what I know so far;
No matter the weather, regardless of what’s reported on the news, no matter what neighborhood you live in, the neighborhood that’s determines your well being lies between your ears. And it can become so beautiful with your commitment to keep watch. To weed out and uproot negative and useless information. To tear down and condemn dilapidated thinking, to build structures that support you and your neighborhood... that you could have block parties every single day!

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